I'm thinking about my own cottage apartment, and small apartments, in general. Invariably, there is one room where families gather, guests hang out, and both keep company with whoever is making the meal.

And it's the same room. In a small space, with only one room providing all three functions, what do you call it?
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It's an old, old problem. What to do with everyone and everything else, when you're the cook, and you need to stay in or near the kitchen. Given this problem, the keeping room solves it in three ways...

(1) You're entertaining, but missing your guests while they mill around in the living room. Bring them with you to the keeping room and continue your conversation, without them being in the way.

(2) Your kids are home from school, and they want to tell you all about their day, or they need to do their homework, but you need to get dinner started while they talk to you. Have them hang out with you in the keeping room.

(3) It's boring to just stand around in the kitchen, waiting for a pot to boil or a cake to rise. Have a comfy seat in your keeping room, and have a cup or tea or read a book while you wait.

I've done two of those three things in my own space.

Is it a keeping room? Historically, keeping rooms were also used to keep families room, and many, if not most, had fireplaces. Which is why another term for this room is hearth room.

​This room does not have one, as most apartments don't, which may make it less likely to be a true keeping room. But wait, not so fast there...
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The Family Room - I think of the family room as the room where the homemaker has designed a space for nurturing family relationships. It probably will have things in it that are meaningful to everyone in the family, but that might not be special to guests, even if they are family friends.

The Living Room - I think of the living room as one that is more formal. In this room, the homemaker has entertaining in mind, and though she creates conversational space, just as she would in the family room, she might have fewer personal decorations, and a more formal coordinated look.

That might be the room that holds more "look, but don't touch" pieces, and there might be an effort to keep it guest-ready, in a way that the family room wouldn't have to be.

Given those ways of looking at this room in an apartment, I think it's hard to decide which it is, in general. You'd have to take it on a case by case basis.

But in my home, this space is both a keeping room and a family room. When my son is making a meal for himself and I'm sitting in my cozy corner, we often have a conversation that lasts at least until the microwave beeps. ;)

And if we are hanging out, he has a seat across from my cozy chair, on the couch. Or, he brings out the hassock from his room, to scoot even closer.

But that may be a false distinction these days. Modern-day keeping rooms are considered to be multi-purpose rooms, so if it is adjacent to the kitchen, it can be considered to be a keeping room, no matter how you use it. Works for me!
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As an image consultant and style blogger, I know exactly what I *should* wear in terms of both color and style.

I know which cheat colors I can get away with, which neutrals are not the best but are better than others, and which ones to choose when they are available. And I know what to do so that I look thinner and not so belly-full, if you know what I mean.

​But sometimes I break the rules.
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RULE: choose neutrals that flatter you. Even neutrals are not neutral when it comes to wearing your ideal colors.

Grey is not my best neutral! But when the grey seems especially pretty, sometimes I end up buying it anyway. And then, I wear it. :)

Well, on the day I took these pictures, I had a thought about this particular color combination. It seemed like it would be delicious!

Grey + terracotta + natural? Lovely.
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Isn't that combination pretty?

But in order to try it, I had to put together practically the worst combination of rule-breaking clothes that I have in my closet.
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RULE: Wear the size that fits you best. Bigger or smaller sizes will not be as flattering.

You see, the first rule I broke happened when I bought the top and the cardigan. The cardigan is not my best color. The top is a wonderful color for me, but it wasn't the size I normally wear, and I bought it anyway!

I felt like I just had to have it, and I crossed my fingers when I ordered it, and hoped it would stretch, LOL.

RULE: If you have to cross your fingers, it is probably better not to order it. ;)

And sometimes I have made that top work - usually by making sure that everything I wear with it is perfect for me. But that wasn't the case this time.

RULE: Everyone has a basic silhouette that forgives a multitude of sins and is best for their body type or challenges. Choose that one whenever possible.

The pants were such a yummy color that I bought them even though they weren't the skinny or tapered pants or leggings I usually wear.

In my defense, it's not every day that you find pants in that color. And I told myself that I would just have them altered. Well, apparently when I told myself that, what I meant was before I die, because I still haven't done it and three seasons have gone by!

So this outfit breaks several rules. And I don't think I quite got away with it. So last chance to see it, LOL.
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See you next time!

Love, Jeanine
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I recently discovered Jenny in Neverland, and read a post of hers, called 40 Winter Self-Care Ideas.

It really inspired me to do at least 3 of those 40 ideas as soon as possible. And when I wrote about them here, the day I read her post, I promised to report back once they were done…
-have a day of hygge
-read and gather Christmas books
-create a winter and Christmas bucket list

Here’s my winter bucket list - notice the first thing on it…

(1) Plan a day of hygge at least once a week. Maybe as a Sunday self-care day kind of thing. 

Hygge Lifestyle Tip: make your hygge day as simple as possible, so nothing about it feels like a chore. “I’m going to have a wonderful day, and LIKE it, if it kills me!” Yeah. No. We don’t want that.

Things my hygge day would likely include are: lighting a candle, making a cup of tea, wearing cozy clothes, cuddling up with a blanket as I read a book, watching a movie, eating my favorite comfort food meals, and hugging my son.

(2) Light candles, a lot of the time, even if I’m not having a hygge day, to infuse my winter with light.

(3) Plan meals that will feel nurturing, with plenty of protein, and lots of soups and rice, and food that warms.

(4) Get plenty of sleep. Create a bedtime routine that makes it easy to get ready earlier, like tea and reading, but only after I’m in my pjs and my devices are put away, etc.

​(5) Try harder to have weekly connection times with my son where we eat a meal at the table, watch TV, watch a movie, or all three. Set a specific weekly time, so it’s harder for my son to float like a butterfly (which always stings like a bee - for you young ones, that’s a reference to a Muhammed Ali song).

And there you have it, my simple but filling winter bucket list.

What’s on your bucket list for this coming winter season?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine
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